Hyundai has been dragging its feet. Hybrid technology has been on the road for over a decade, and the Korean automaker is only now catching up, with its own dedicated Ioniq brand (a hybrid Sonata has been available for a while). But instead of just dropping a single car into the market and waiting to see what happens, the company decided to introduce three Ioniq green vehicles, a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and an electric vehicle..............

The automaker may have taken its time, but Hyundai says that over the past 11 years it's been researching and developing green vehicles that fit within its brand. The results are inexpensive cars that bring electric technology to car buyers who want cheap, reliable transportation. This strategy seems to have paid off. The hybrid starts at $22,200 while the pure electric car is $29,500. Both of those are before federal tax credits.

But before I talk about what it's like to cruise the countryside outside Santa Barbara, California, in these cars, there is a caveat: Hyundai has decided to focus on efficiency instead of range. The automaker hasn't lined the bottom of the entire passenger compartment of the EV with batteries like other companies. Instead a small 28kWh pack sits under the rear seats. The result is that the electric Ioniq only has a range of 124 miles. In a world where the 238-mile range Chevy Bolt exists, that's sure to turn off some buyers. But it's important to remember that the starting price of the Bolt is $37,500. The Ioniq EV is $8,000 cheaper.

11 years is a long time for research and developing of green cars with all the teck we have nowadays but sounds like they where definitely trying to please us the consumers ( cheap, reliable transportation. )

I agree... I think that low cost reliable transportation will encourage new buyers. Even with a 238 range, these cars are more likely to be used for local driving, so a reduced range isn't a major impediment. But price will always be a deciding factor.

If the range is an issue, a common solution of it can be battery swapping. It takes the same time that it takes to fill up a gasoline in a car. Old depleted battery gets switched with a new fully charged battery. This can come in handy.